Heal Her Broken Wings
by Terapsina
Summary: AU after "All My Children". Elijah has been gone for a while when Elena suddenly turns up on his doorstep as a vampire. She needs him to help her come to grips with that and he needs to keep silent his feelings for her while he does so. Elejah.


Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries have never and will never be mine. Elijah isn't mine. Elena isn't mine. None of the character's you recognize belong to me. After all if they were, this story would actually be what happens, but sadly no such luck.

A/N: This took forever. Sorry about that, but when I started writing this I had no idea how to do so in the voice of such a complicated character. I'm still not entirely sure I succeeded, but I'm actually satisfied with this attempt so who cares. Oh and just so you know nothing that happens after Elijah left town has necessarily happened, for example Finn in my mind is still very much alive even if he isn't mentioned in this story.

Warnings: There is kinda' sexual non-explicit content. Warning about_ that_… well I don't think I wrote it all that good, because this is my first attempt and you know - 'baby steps'.

* Heal Her Broken Wings *

* x *

'_Breathe. Just breathe. In and out, I can do it. Just breathe.'_

_She did. Oxygen was inhaled and exhaled. But she still couldn't feel it the way she should. Her chest moved, but it couldn't… it wouldn't relax. It felt as if her insides were skinning themselves raw. And she was hungry, so very hungry._

'_Please just breathe. Just a minute longer, he'll help, he always does.'_

* x *

There was a knock at his door and even before he opened it the sudden dread filled his awareness. There was a vampire waiting on the other side, - he could hear the heartbeat that was always barely out of sync with what a normal one would be, - but no one was supposed to know where he had settled.

Elijah had been off the radar of everyone for almost six months now and although he hadn't been exactly hiding having an unannounced guest was still somewhat worrying.

None of these troubling thoughts showed on his face when he opened his door however. After all being alive for a millennium had at least gifted him with the ultimate poker face, but once he saw the person on the other side he and his expression froze.

The dark eyes, the brown hair, the olive skin… the face of the ghost that had been haunting him for all his life.

And for a single fraction of a second he was sure it was Katerina, but then he truly looked at her and noticed the little tells so easily perceptible to him and instantly knew he was wrong, more than ever he wished he wasn't because this was so much more horrifying. But this Petrova was hyperventilating, fidgeting with her hands, this Petrova was carrying a world of weight in her gaze and ultimately this Petrova was looking at him with the sort of trust he had only ever seen on one face. This Petrova was a Gilbert first.

The girl he couldn't face was standing on the doorstep of his house and her heart was revealing the loss of her human life.

"Elena?"

Her hair fell messily out of her loose braid, her clothes were rumpled and her eyes screamed desperation he never wished to see in them. Elijah remembered her as one of the strongest people he had ever met, more moral, more honorable than even him and infinitely more compassionate than _anyone _else. But the young woman standing before him with bags by her feet and tears in her eyes was broken.

"I… I didn't know who else to go to."

He could cover his true feelings then, could imprison them behind a practiced façade of cool detachment so easily, but at this moment Elena deserved to see how her condition affected him so for once he let the agony free reign. He never wanted this for her. Her humanity was such a part of her character he had known turning her would be akin to ripping the wings off a butterfly. It was a cruelty even he would never stoop to and yet someone had.

One moment they stood there, three feet of air between them and the next she was in his arms crying, clutching him to her and releasing the sobs of a tortured spirit. He wanted to ask her what had happened, wanted to know who had killed her and to make that someone pay for this sin, to storm back to Mystic Falls and let loose his fury onto the brothers that were supposed to protect her, to ask how she'd found him. Instead he just stood, with his arms around her and his hand cradling her head closer to him as if trying to protect her from something that had already harmed her irreparably. All he could do to comfort her now was this soothing silence, his own presence and time so she might release with salty teardrops the bleeding of her heart and soul.

He had left her so he wouldn't be another man driving her towards edge with unwanted affection as well as to get back his sense of conscience and now for the first time he regretted it, because if he had been there at least she'd still be alive. If he'd been there she wouldn't have to fight her own body to stop herself from becoming the monster he finally admitted he was.

* x *

_She was exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally weary. Being dead would be easier._

'_Keep you eyes closed, if you don't open them you'll do fine. Your mom's downstairs making coffee. Dad's reading the morning paper aloud. Jeremy's in the other room indulging his horrible taste in music. Jenna's alive, partying on the other side of this sunny state. Vampires don't exist and you're not one of them.'_

_Someone ran their fingertips over paper, flipping the page. Another heartbeat in the room was craftily hiding behind hers. Familiar, comforting scent she didn't think she recognized until she did. Sandalwood, old books and something else entirely as well, something that had no name, but the closest possible approximation was earthy. He was here. Vampires were real. She was one of them._

_She wanted to cry. She was too exhausted to even make an attempt._

* x *

It was a cloudy and slightly chilly morning outside, but the weather couldn't be further from Elijah's thoughts and he barely noticed it at all. Instead he was sitting in a chair by his bed pretending to read a book and waiting for Elena to wake up.

She had been completely drained after she stopped swimming in her own tears, barely able to move let alone speak so he guided her to his room, helped her remove her shoes and covered her with a blanket before taking his position of vigil by her side.

"The book's any good?"

Her voice was scratchy and raw, the lyrical quality usually present completely absent. He looked at the cover of his book, for the first time in slight embarrassment noticing that he was holding a dictionary and carefully put it down out of her sight.

"Yes, it's very… informative."

Her lips twitched and he knew she had read something in his tone or face that told her he was being careful with words again. It eased something in him, if she could smile even a little maybe not all of her was lost to this latest tragedy yet.

And then they just looked at each other. He was taking in her worn out eyes, memorizing the new rhythm of her heartbeat, trying to understand exactly what was it that kept pulling his every other thought towards her. Whatever it was it wasn't the face, never before had he been in such tune with a woman's every gesture, - every emotion behind a gesture, - it wasn't there with Katerina and not even Tatia had made him feel like this.

Sometimes it seemed she was the center of his universe and however much Elijah tried to distance himself he would always be pulled back to her side. He hadn't expected for her to be the one finding him though, then again Elena never failed to surprise and astonish him.

Suddenly she sighed, closing her eyes her expression signaling clear distress in the lines of her face and the rigid posture of her laying body. It stirred his heart in an unpleasant sense a little bit at this first sign of just how different her reactions had become, she usually didn't allow herself such obvious signs of stress.

"You can ask now."

And he wanted to, everything in him begged to pull out the information of what had prompted Elena to leave her home, run away from all the people she cared about to find _him_ instead of dealing with her change with the help of one of the Salvatore's or even her vampire best friend. But he knew that sometimes retelling wasn't the cure it was made out to be, sometimes it just made things worse.

And as said Elijah was a patient man, he could wait until she was ready.

He turned towards the window, not being able to look at her when she was acting this hopeless. All the light seeping from her every smile was buried out of reach and maybe gone forever, he couldn't bring himself to make it worse than it was already.

"You don't have to tell me anything Elena."

"_But I want to."_

Her breathy whisper was so quiet he wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't an Original, but he was and so his head whipped back towards her. She was still looking at him and her honesty was bare before him clearly showing it within her mesmerizing brown pools, he clenched down on the feeling Elena's words inspired. She couldn't know why something so seemingly insignificant was suddenly so crucial.

He couldn't let her know what 'always and forever' meant either and if she knew one she'd figure out the other.

Loving her was cruel, not something he was ashamed of and too deeply rooted by now to be forgotten, but Elena didn't need to ever know it was there. She could barely deal with two suitors, adding a third would destroy her even if this change didn't.

"All right, Elena. What happened to you?"

"Damon turned me."

And for the first time in more years than he could right then count he needed to really fight to control his face from changing and his fangs from being revealed. By now he could drink blood when starving without doing either and yet the hungry simmering rage almost undid all his careful work. He tightly closed his eyes, that was the only change in his expression but his fingernails dug into his clenched palms until he knew she could smell his blood and Elijah almost lost the battle with the beast within.

But then he felt her warm touch on the side of his face grounding him back into reality, bringing him back from the bloodlust and the madness that would inevitably follow.

"It's fine Elijah. I'm fine."

He exhaled, keeping his eyes closed trying to postpone the moment when he'd have to open them, because he knew that she would step back once he did and he wanted to prolong her touch for even one moment longer. He was imprinting how this felt, how soft the skin of her fingers was, how gentle her touch, how she smelled slightly differently when standing this close. But nothing lasts forever and all too soon he had to look at her.

As always she surprised him, she didn't move an inch.

He looked deeply into her warm brown eyes and knew she was lying, it might be a kind lie, something he wished was the truth, but it wasn't. He was relieved to see all that compassion he loved about her still there, but now the edges were frayed and even if the gentle sympathy was still all encompassing it only hid the shattered ruins of the rest of her. He could see self loathing, anger, bitterness as well now. All the qualities Elena was so good with stepping back from were pushing back, threatening to overwhelm her kind nature.

And while he read her, she read him because he didn't have to contradict her reassurance, for as always Elena saw that he knew it wasn't anywhere near fine.

"Alright I'm not, but you will help."

It wasn't a question, there was too much ingrained conviction for that, there was no doubt in Elena's mind that he could help her and that he _would_. Slowly, but without hesitation Elijah put his hand on top of hers, cupping her palm even closer to his cheek and squeezed it in agreement. In comfort too, but his or hers? He didn't know and it didn't matter.

"Yes, Elena. I will do everything in my power to help you."

And afterwards he would pay a visit to the older Salvatore and make him regret ever hurting this woman in one of the worst ways possible. He didn't yet know the circumstances, but however justified they might be those didn't matter all that much when he needed to bring back the most remarkable woman from the edge before she had the chance to fall over and turn into the person she had sworn not to be.

He wouldn't let Elena lose all the humanity she held in her heart, the precious part he first - however unwillingly, - fell in love with.

* x *

'_Always and forever.'_

_She understood the rest of his message so well, but those words confused her. They frightened her even as they comforted her. They were like a promise and an apology and a confession all by itself._

'_But a confession of what?'_

* x *

The utmost task on his agenda was curbing the bloodlust she would be forced to feel for the rest of her life. It was both the hardest and the easiest out of all the curses following a vampire.

"Why can't I just drink alcohol? Caroline said it helps."

"It does, but if you ever drank too much you would drown out the voice at the back of your mind that yells for you to step back, not get too close and stop. Even the best humans do terrible things when intoxicated and although vampires need a whole lot more to… how do you say it now? Ah yes, 'get plastered' it still happens, except the cost is always higher for us."

Her already pained expression turned sadder still, he could see she still hadn't fully accepted the change. It was understandable under the circumstances and the person he was dealing with, but he knew she needed to face this or she would never be able to master herself.

"So what you want from me is to sit still in front of a glass filled with human blood and then not drink it?"

"Essentially, yes. You are young and so before you can make yourself pull back once already drinking first you need to lower the temptation."

She exhaled in defeat and pulled her hair back in a loose ponytail to get them out of her drawn face. He stood transfixed as one strand escaped her hold inexplicably fixing his attention to her delicate neck. His fingers twitched. He wanted so badly to extend his hand to move the seemingly soft hairs behind her ear, but contained the want. He had an unfortunate talent for that.

Instead of broadcasting his feelings louder than he did anyway he headed towards the freezer and took out a bag of blood. As he carefully spilled the contents into a glass he could feel her eyes on the back of his head and couldn't help to wonder about what was running through her mind right then.

He turned around sending her one of his actual smiles, lately reserved only for her and sat back in his chair placing the glass between them on the table.

She immediately froze her eyes changing, her teeth extending and he needed to fight back the grief that suddenly threatened to swallow him. That transformation didn't belong on Elena's face.

For a minute they sat in silence, Elena growing more tense and ready to spring for the glass with every passing second.

"Distract me!"

It might have been worded as a command, but the plea was obvious in the tone. The note of desperation too was palpable and so he acquiesced.

"Very well." His tone turned quieter and into what Rebekah long ago with affection but now scathingly called his soothing story-teller voice, he still vividly remembered in his human days using it on the nights when the moon was full so that while hiding in the caves he might calm down his siblings by telling grand tales both true and imaginary. But he knew a story wouldn't help her, he needed to prompt her to talk herself. After all listening isn't quite as distracting as explaining something yourself, and as an added bonus there was a question that had bothered him since he opened his door to her. "I'm curious about something, how exactly _did_ you find me? I did not tell anyone, not even my family where I would go."

"You didn't, which is why soon after you left I asked Bonnie to do a tracking spell for me in case we needed to get your help."

Her heart jumped, something about that sentence was a lie, but this wasn't the time to pull the truth from her and for once he might prefer to be deceived. In any case, he should have expected her answer, after all that's exactly what he would have done in her place. Actually that's what he _had_ done when she was still nothing but the Doppelganger to him.

And yet that didn't explain all of it because as far as he knew he hadn't left the key ingredient behind. At the back of his mind he noticed her grip on her chair was loosening, the rest of him focused on the picture her answer was painting.

"Ah, but what did she use? I rather doubt you could get your hands on the blood of any of my siblings and I was careful to not leave any of my personal possessions behind to be found."

He didn't expect her answer, but on reflection he should have.

"Your letter."

It struck him a blow he wasn't wholly prepared for. He knew the letter meant more to him than her, but somehow the revelation that Elena shared his words with someone else was painful. It shouldn't mean much, as far as she knew it was just a letter of apology and goodbye, but that didn't change the point. Didn't change the hurt betrayal he under the circumstances had no right to feel.

As always, she read him like an open book. If that wasn't part of the attraction he felt for her he'd find it really very irritating, maybe he did anyway.

A secret smile grew within her eyes and unto her lips, transforming her whole face and he found himself speechless once again in her presence. It was the first _real_ smile he'd seen since the one where she promised to inform him on what his mother told her. She slowly pushed the blood away from her never dropping their locked gaze and then spoke.

"She didn't read it Elijah."

And maybe she did know how important that letter was after all.

* x *

_As the ring slid upon her finger, was placed there by his hand her breath caught and a vision formed. White and flowers, veils and 'I do'._

_And then she was herself and he was Elijah and something incomprehensible had suddenly changed._

* x *

"Where are we going?"

He sent towards her a smile absentmindedly noticing how the longer she stayed with him the more often those came out. This close coexistence might not be about him, but while Elena tried to regain her inner strength she was unknowingly bringing back the happiness and yes '_humanity'_ he thought long since lost to him. Elena's brows were furrowed and for the first time since seeing her again she looked relaxed, his left hand clenched fighting the urge to reach for her hand.

Some of the physical borders had been breached when she cried in his arms, after all they no longer carefully avoided any accidental contact, but most still remained and he wasn't quite ready to chop down the rest of them. Sadly he thought he might be waiting for her to be the one to initiate the breech.

"To see a witch I have a deal with. I noticed you do not yet have a lapis lazuli, we must rectify that."

It was true. He'd noticed it when he put her to sleep the night she showed up and directly after covered the windows accordingly, but she couldn't live life to the fullest in the dark and so this little outing was now taking place.

Elijah glanced at her from the corner of his eye without turning his head. Elena was looking in the distance past the houses and cars towards the horizon and at the crescent moon illuminating the slowly blooming spring earth. Her eyes were glazed over and a bit misty probably from looking through slightly painful memories again, he wished she would stop doing that, it made him want to draw her near so he might do something unwise that would make her forget everything but him for just a moment.

"I didn't really have time to ask for one, I left as soon as… as soon as I became a vampire."

Her voice broke on the last word, but he pretended not to have noticed. This wasn't the time to direct her through muddy emotional waters, instead it was a moment to gift back the sun stolen from her.

They reached their destination, the little Chinese shop tucked around a shaded corner and as he guided her towards it - not quite touching the back of her hand - she stumbled. He caught her before she could fall instantly noticing her suddenly rapid heartbeat over his own accelerated one. Before either of them could say anything Elijah took a grip of himself, steadied her and politely knocked at the door.

"Shénme?"

The snarl was just as rigid as he remembered it and the middle aged Chinese woman behind it just as formidable. She took one look at him and if it's possible turned sourer but much less menacing, after all he had sporadically known her all her life. And as she tended to remind him on the rare occasions they met she didn't have to like it.

"Oh it's you. Shoulda' known, you're the only vampire I know who bothers knocking."

And suddenly she spoke impeccable English with a barely perceptible British accent. It still amused him when Samantha made herself seem foreign although having grown up in Baltimore and studied in London it had taken all her inherited stubbornness to learn traditional Chinese from her own grandmother at all. But he understood the reasoning, even vampires were prone to stereotyping and it was always useful to seem like you don't entirely comprehend a language, it's why she was still alive. Well that and his guaranteed continued protection of her line.

Samantha looked to his left finally taking in the woman beside him and the glare came back full force.

"You brought Katherine to my home? I thought we agreed you wouldn't drag the killers with you."

Elena almost imperceptibly flinched, the sharp words of the witch striking hard. Elijah had a suspicion that since there was again less difference between the identical looking women she was even more uncomfortable and hurt by any comparisons.

"I do apologize, introductions seem to be in order. Samantha this is Elena Gilbert and a _descendant_ of Katerina, she was sadly recently turned but has not killed a human in her life. Elena let me introduce you to Samantha Chen Sing the witch I wanted us to visit."

The witch's eyes turned slightly apologetic, but otherwise she only inclined her head. Looking back at him she stepped back in silent invitation.

Elijah didn't move, placed an arm on Elena's shoulder to stop her from stepping forward when she made a move to do so and raised his eyebrow because he had no wish to run into an invisible barrier. He was well aware she performed some archaic rescinding ritual after every instance she had to temporarily invite a vampire in.

The wicked smile he received for his lack of movement left no doubt she was reminiscing on the one and single moment he made that mistake.

"Come in."

The front area of the shop was cozy if extremely cliché, the Chinese souvenirs were all around them covering the dark wooden shelves and the incense choking the room completed the picture of what someone ignorant of the ability's of the owner would expect.

"So Elijah Smith, what is it exactly you want this time? I thought I made myself very clear on your vendetta against Klaus, I'm willing to help you attain any magical objects you have a wish for, but I do _not_ want to be on the psychopaths radar."

Samantha was standing behind the counter carefully keeping and eye on both him and Elena, after all a truce only went so far and over the centuries he had learned that laying down of arms was the only positive relationship he could share with a witch.

"This isn't about Niklaus. I am here to acquire a daylight ring for my guest."

Samantha relaxed at hearing this, but crossed her arms and he knew it was time for the scripted dance he had been doing with her family through the past three hundred years.

"And I get?"

"Two additional generations should be fair."

"Fine, but say the words."

"I agree to protect your next nine direct descendants from any harm sought by vampires and come to their aid to assist them with any other threat if I am called. You have my word on that."

"Great. Wait a moment and I'll be back with what I have."

Elena had been observing him in clear amusement all through the exchange, his own lips curled. It _was_ a bit humorous the way his interactions with the Chens went.

"Yes Elena?"

"Oh nothing, but it seems I'm not the only one who knows how you honor your word."

He didn't respond, just gauging her sincerity from her eyes and saw no sarcasm there, only open honesty. He didn't think it was possible to feel all that relief, she really had forgiven him.

Their connection was broken by the return of Samantha, she was carrying a drawer containing about fifty different rings starting with simple bands and ending with expensive jeweled ones. The Chens weren't the most powerful magic user family, but they were collectors and most of their merchandise was enchanted objects found or bought from the estates of dead lines… or dead vampires.

"Well Elena? Which would you like to have?"

Elena took his words for the invitation it was and started looking through the different rings.

"You know I'm going to pay you back for this."

"There is no need. Consider this a very late birthday gift, I missed the chance to congratulate you because of my brother so now is as good a time as any I believe."

"Thank you then." She turned back towards him and showed him her choice held in the palm of her right hand.

Without considering the implications he took the white gold ring from her noticing the exquisite Celtic knot the metal was tied in and then as if hypnotized took hold of her right hand in his, slowly sliding the beautiful creation onto her delicate ring finger he carefully kept his breathing even.

Her heart was jumping in her chest more quickly than he had ever heard it except when afraid and when he looked at her their eyes once again connecting in a way more binding than he was entirely aware of. Elijah took her in. There was a rosy blush covering her cheeks - the first one there since the turn - and her eyes were wider than normal, her lips parted letting out a little gasp.

Only then did he understand what the move looked like.

They might have stood like that for a lot longer if not for the witch he had completely forgotten about.

"Alright lovebirds," she grimaced looking slightly ill at the thought "You might like to waste your own time because you have so much of it, but I'd really appreciate it if you left so I wouldn't have to see you for like another ten years or so. Thanks."

The spell entwining them was lifted with the intrusion of the voice and he let go of Elena's hand stepping back to keep a decent distance, once more looking at her he couldn't help the slight thrill that ran down his spine once he saw the slight disappointment on her face.

But then she straightened, her face closing off and he composed himself as well.

"Thank you Samantha, we will bother you no more. I hope you will have a nice evening."

"Bye Samantha, it was nice meeting you and thanks for the ring."

Turning together towards the door they exited silently, without words or looks exchanging an agreement never to talk about what had taken place not moments ago.

* x *

"_Rebekah, don't do this!"_

"_Why not? You did, and hey I wanna' see if you can come back from this too."_

"_What happened? Damon?"_

"_I'm sorry Elena."_

"_What did you do?"_

"_Please drink, I can't live with you dead."_

"_I can't. Stefan I don't want this life."_

"_But you have to live, for me, for Damon. For Jeremy, please!"_

* x *

She was crying in her sleep again.

Elijah was reading in the well lit library he couldn't live without and her guest room was on the other side of the house, but his hearing was better than that of a wolves - granted an ordinary ones, - so that didn't actually matter all that much.

It was almost a nightly occurrence, Elena would go to sleep, toss around awake for an hour or two before finally falling asleep only to then start crying when facing the invisible monsters he could do nothing to vanquish. And listening was slowly tearing him apart in ways he mistakenly thought he was no longer capable of.

He had stayed away until now because going upstairs to wake her would be an invasion of privacy he wasn't certain she would approve of and frankly she needed all the sleep she could get, even if it was for a short time every night filled with tears. But then he heard the scream erupting from her throat and knew he couldn't stand by to listen to her suffer any longer, maybe he should have had the courage to do this before, but now faster than a human blink he was up the stairs and by the door that separated him from Elena.

When he finally entered he did so at a speed expected from a mortal, but then stopped short in his tracks once his eyes finally fell upon her slumbering form.

She looked different asleep, not peaceful, the tears covering her face making that completely impossible and yet somehow the sight was in a way more otherworldly beautiful than the one she made when awake. There was an eerie translucent quality to her loveliness now, the dark hair falling around on her pillow creating a messy halo and the sweat covering the skin of her body making her shine in the pale moonlight seeping through the window. If the picture she unknowingly made wasn't so tragic in nature and his heart didn't ache at the very sight he might consider this to be the moment where she looked her most alluring.

He shook his head ridding himself of the avalanche of thoughts best left alone and tried instead to come up with something he could do to banish the nightmares torturing her well deserved rest. Preferably without the need to wake her and rob her of the remaining hours better spent regaining her energy.

He could change her dream of course, but to do that he would first have to enter her mind and that was something he had long ago promised never to do. It was an act of violation he had developed distaste for in the years spent by the side of his brother.

No, there was only really one thing he could do that might work.

Without sound he sat on the side of her bed and after a moment of indecision took a hold of her hand. Slowly at first Elijah started to run soothing circles over her knuckles with his thumb and then surprising himself started to hum a soft melody.

He didn't have the best voice not even within his own family, that ability once upon a time belonged to Henrik, but it wasn't bad either. The lullaby came back as if he'd never forgotten it and although the words were long since lost to him he remembered it as one his mother sang them to sleep to. It was part of the group of memories he had sought to extinguish when Esther destroyed the image of kindness he once held of her.

Minutes later it seemed to work, because pain was slowly bleeding away from her face, soothing the lines between her eyebrows and casting the peaceful look he hoped to one day see again on her conscious face as well. The tears ceased to run down her cheeks and he held in the breath of relief trying to escape.

It took ten more minutes until he was certain Elena was back in deep slumber again, uninterrupted by either dreams or nightmares of any kind. By the time her heart was deep and steady once more he - without being aware of it himself - had started playing with the band of precious metal on her finger.

Suddenly Elijah realized that this might be his one chance to say out loud that cherished secret which had rooted itself into his mind and heart without burdening the soul of someone already so very torn.

"My lovely Elena, I am sorry. It seems I couldn't stop myself from making that mistake again after all." He sighed in tiredness no mortal could ever truly comprehend and leaned forward kissing her brow. "It does look like I'm once more at the mercy of our greatest weakness. And yet somehow I do not regret it, I had almost forgotten how it is to feel so much for another. I love you."

After running his thumb over the ring on her finger one last time he stood up leaving the sanctuary he invaded without her permission.

Some of the weight was lifted with his confession, but the longing was only deepening and he had no doubt that keeping his distance would be a hundred times harder from now on.

But Elena's wellbeing was worth the heartache.

* x *

_He was looking at her again. She could feel his eyes. Gentle and thoughtful, hiding a secret she was afraid to guess at._

_A threatening stranger. An ally. A friend. Something different. Something more._

'_Who is he to me now?'_

* x *

He could no longer remember what home felt like. Too long a time had passed since anything close to it existed. Not since Rebekah still smiled at him had he felt it around him. Not since Klaus still laughed with anything but cruelty had home been anything but a dream. Not since Kol's eyes danced with something other than malicious glee had he completely relaxed. Not since Finn could express any other emotion but misery had that peace been present. Not since Esther was still a mother had it been anything but a bitter memory. Not since Mikael was a father who protected not hunted his children. Not since Henrik was still alive and looking up to all his siblings, trying to be just like them.

But all of that was gone. He often hoped, but never imagined that he could recapture that elusive concept.

And yet the longer he lived with Elena the more he felt at home and he was well aware it had nothing to do with the house and everything to do with the woman. It terrified him, kept him awake at night.

It wouldn't last, because sooner or later Elena would come to terms with her new future. Sooner or later she would forgive Damon like she did a hundred times before. Sooner or later she would see Stefan again and notice how much she still loved him. Sooner or later she wouldn't be able to take the distance between herself and her brother. Sooner or later she would leave.

Soon Elijah would be all alone again, but this time he would know exactly what it would be he'd be missing. And he wasn't sure how he would go on after that.

So he enjoyed what he could get. And as they sat in his library in silence with books in their laps Elijah let himself be immersed in home by the sound of her heartbeat and the little laughs she tried to smother while reading something amusing.

The clock was ticking against him and the more he helped her the less time he had left. Happiness was fleeting it was something that couldn't be held, like a breeze of warm wind that never stayed leaving only the memory of warmth behind.

* x *

_He had the most fascinating eyes. She thought so even when he first flashed before her looking at her in such a shocked surprise and she was still so terrified of him._

_They were sad and calculating, old but peaceful. And the slightest bit kind. And there was an extra of something familiar, something she saw when she looked in a mirror. It's why she knew she could trust him even as she didn't understand the reason why._

_And now she couldn't look within them without a smile, even a slight one._

* x *

They were outside walking in silence when he finally understood something that had escaped him all his life, both the one spent as a vampire and the one before.

There was a distinction between love and true love. It couldn't be put into words or even thoughts, both of them were real and precious, both of them could be eternal if one was lucky enough. But there was a difference none the less and unless you had experienced true love, you couldn't ever see exactly what it was that was missing before.

Katerina was wrong, true love didn't have to be returned to be true, just like a love that was mutual wasn't necessarily one either. Life was far too complicated for easy answers and clear messages, life wasn't black and white and it wasn't just gray either. Life couldn't be put in colors or words at all.

But between one step and the next he captured that moment where he was struck with the realization of exactly how much he cared for the woman beside him. Elena was someone he hadn't planned to care for let alone love, but he did love her. She embodied far too much good to be dismissed and her humanity was still as bright as ever even now. He would do everything in his considerable power to make her see it as well. He would even let her go once this reprieve was over and she went back to the small town she was born in, back to the two men waiting for her there. He wouldn't interfere when she finally made the choice that had been coming the entire time he had known her.

Elijah would let her break his heart and he wouldn't burden her with the knowledge of having done so, there was far too much sorrow and guilt within her already.

But right now in this moment he would take anything she was willing to give, so as he reached over taking the palm of her hand within his and she smiled at him he solidified the image of her expressive eyes, her slightly out of place hair being blown by the wind into her face and the warmth radiating through her whole body into his mind.

He would lose a lot once the inevitable took place, but at least he would know that for a little while her friendship was his. And that was something he might not have to say goodbye to.

* x *

_Blood! Blood, blood, blood!_

_So warm, so sweet, so hungry. No stop, let go, more!_

'_Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!'_

* x *

It wasn't that Elijah never left Elena's side, he did of course he did after all smothering wasn't part of the healing process and if she never left his sight it would feel like a prison to her. But he made sure not to leave too far, so he could always tell if she was in distress, could hear her if she called for him.

But almost a month had passed and he could see Elena settling in. The nights had somewhat calmed, Elena was smiling more every day, she didn't look like an injured animal every time he placed blood in front of her anymore either so when he heard that there was strife getting dangerously out of line four towns over between two vampires who seemed to have lost the sight of subtlety where human victims were concerned he actually prepared to leave. He would be back before nightfall.

He had barely traveled two blocks when the part of him still attuned to the place he was leaving heard it. The bell at his front door was ringing so he slowed the car to pay more attention.

"_Oh hey, did you forget someth… erm hello?"_

"_Good morning, I noticed Mr. Smith had a guest so I thought I'd come to introduce myself."_

He almost imperceptibly calmed, it was Mrs. Carson their very nosy, but completely harmless neighbor. And then he caught a whiff of something behind the exhaust fumes of his car, behind the scent of grass and infinite number of chemicals from every house. The antiseptic was doing nothing to mask the unmistakable odor from someone like him… or Elena. Blood.

"_Oh, don't worry, it's barely a cut. I really must be more careful with…"_

He had abandoned the car in the middle of the road and was running before the pause lasted even for a few seconds. And still he was almost too late.

A short moment later when he reached their porch – at the back of his mind noting that this new use of 'our' was worrying – Elena had already sunk her teeth into the woman's neck.

He pulled her back ignoring the little growl leaving her throat in protest of losing a meal. But the damage was done, he could see it when Elena ripped herself out of his arms and turned around, the savage hunger was quickly turning into revulsion and horror. Her eyes widened, her chest heaved, she looked towards the bleeding woman with dawning horror and finally she collapsed in front of him hitting the ground hard.

And yet he stayed outwardly calm when Mrs. Carson opened her mouth to scream, not letting himself be distracted by his own feelings. He clamped his hand over her mouth, smothering the impending sound and looked into her terrified eyes.

"You won't remember this."

When the neighbors eyes glazed over he removed his hand.

"I won't remember this."

"You went over to introduce yourself to Mr. Smith's guest, you were invited in, you had a nice chat, but the girl wasn't as interesting as you suspected. You left, because you felt a fever coming on, you will spend the next two days in your house with a virus. You understand?"

"I understand."

He stepped back and quickly bit into his wrist. He didn't like to give out blood to heal wounds that would close anyway, but this was for Elena and she didn't need to ever see this woman with a scar she caused. So he placed his bleeding wrist at the woman's mouth and watched as the bite marks closed.

Once he saw the woman leaving Elijah finally allowed himself the freedom to glance at the shattered form of the girl he couldn't help but love. She was in shock, her arms around her knees and her body rocking back and forth. She wasn't crying, but this time it was a bad sign, it meant she wasn't ready to face what had happened. Or the worst part – what had _almost_ happened.

He closed his eyes, silently thanking whatever gods available for the fact he hadn't left the house even five minutes earlier. And then he knelt in front of Elena, taking her in his arms and picking her up to bring her inside their house.

* x *

"_Please leave! Please! I can't, I almost… oh god!"_

_She'd almost killed her. She would have, if Elijah hadn't stopped her. She had wanted to._

_She didn't wish to think. She needed to stop thinking. He was sleeping still dressed only a short walk away, a thought was borne and the rest of her mind thankfully blanked. She knew of a way to stop thinking._

* x *

The first thing he was aware of was her scent. It was so close, as if she was right in front of him surrounding him in her wonderful fragrance. His brow furrowed in confusion, she wasn't supposed to be in his room he had carried her to her own once he brought her inside.

He knew he had left when she asked him to, when she needed to be alone. He had fallen asleep still clothed in one of his suits worrying.

And then he lost the train of his thought entirely when he felt her touch. Her hand was sliding down his chest, opening the buttons of his shirt, slipping those same palms underneath the expensive cotton material to slide them against his bare skin. And the touch was like flames, licking his bared chest arousing him from slumber in all senses of the word. He almost hissed, but was struck speechless when opening his eyes.

Elena was on top of him. Straddling his hips, starting to move hers in a slow, purposeful rhythm designed to drive any man insane. She was driving his emotionless guise further back than ever before.

And it would have been a dream come true if he couldn't smell the salty streaks of tears and feel her shaking shoulders, if he couldn't hear her terrible sobs and see her sorrowful expression. She was pale, she was breathing heavily and even though she was looking at him he could tell that she wasn't really seeing him.

This wasn't about him. It wasn't about her caring about him or simply being attracted to him. This was about pain, about guilt and the need to drown it in pleasure by any means available. He was present so he would do and nothing had ever wounded him quite so much in quite this way.

But this was Elena. The woman he admired more than any other, the only person to have such a hold on his heart and she wasn't drunk or compelled. She was entirely under her own will.

And for a moment he gave in, letting her kiss his neck, wrapping his arms around her back and shoulders to draw her closer. If this was the only way he could have her, then he considered allowing it.

He gasped erratically to gain air, for somehow never before had he needed it more urgently. She was so warm in his arms and her lips were softer than a swan's feather as they traveled across his jaw with an agonizing slowness.

But she'd regret this in the morning. She would feel embarrassed and hurt. Nothing would have changed for the better as was supposed to from an act such as the one she was offering. It would only ruin them, she wouldn't be able to look him in the eye and maybe she'd even leave.

His blood sung as it rushed through his veins, seeking out something not even a hair's width away and yet unattainable. He groaned at his inner struggle, at her suddenly increasingly desperate movements.

He didn't want her to leave yet. And even if those weren't factors, there was also the deep seeded knowledge that if he let her take the easy way out right now she would always in the future be more tempted to do so again. Tempted to give in to the bloodlust a bit more, tempted to drown misery in a body again, tempted to turn off all that made her Elena.

But her hands were opening his shirt almost ready to rid him of the unwanted constraint. Her shoulders were almost bare, the left lace of her silk bra fallen aside and the top he knew should be covering her chest lost at some point since he woke.

He couldn't let her become a monster, couldn't let her spend the next few hundred years emotionless and then being slowly awakened to the pain of knowing what she had done when that not entirely there switch stopped working. So for a moment longer he savored the impossible and then firmly pushed her back.

"No. Elena, stop!"

She looked as if he'd slapped her. The hurt encompassing her whole face at the rejection, if she wasn't so vulnerable right now it might have given him hope. But the truth was, even this wasn't really about him.

He held on stronger seeing her getting ready to flee his room. He was suddenly certain if she left his presence just at this moment in time he would never see her again. He needed to make her understand his actions.

"Wait. Elena, you're hurt… hmmm…. hurt you almost killed a human and you want it to go away for a… for a little while. I understand why you want this right now, but if you do this… if… if we do this it will be harder when the sun comes up, it will be unbearable once it sets after that."

She still looked torn, but she was listening, reason and coherent thought beyond mere one word sentences returning to her face. But the lost look he had observed for a month now was still present and he knew he needed to lessen it, even if the necessary small admission would cost him.

"You're beautiful Elena, inside and out. And I'd… like nothing more than to continue, but it wouldn't be the right move on either of our parts. I'd be taking advantage of you, you understand?"

Slowly she nodded, but he could see she wasn't fully willing to accept his reasoning either yet by the walls he saw she was building up to protect herself. Specially designed to keep him out, she had never wanted to keep _him_ out before, at least not in the way she seemed to now.

It gave him and idea. Something that would assure her and give him a moment he could treasure once she was gone.

"You don't have to leave Elena. Lets sleep, you do not need to be alone right now."

Neither did he. He had almost lost her in more ways than one this day and he needed her close to him, just as much as Elena needed _someone_ to be close to her. To know this was another nick across his heart.

He pulled her closer, turning on his side and placing his hand on her head, running it over her disheveled hair to soothe her. For a moment she was still ready to spring up and flee, but then she relaxed and clutched herself even closer to him starting to whisper between the tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure if she was apologizing for almost killing or… for what she had almost set in motion with her actions afterwards. He had no wish to hear her clarify it. And it didn't matter. What mattered was her.

"It's not your fault."

He knew she didn't believe it, but she had to hear it anyway and he would repeat it for however long it took for her to accept.

And for the next half an hour he did exactly that. Every time the apology escaped her he told her it would be alright, that she wasn't responsible, that the woman she had drunk from would be fine.

When she was finally calm and he even thought her to be asleep she proved him wrong with a question he hadn't thought he'd ever hear from her. He really should have expected it, of course the Salvatore's had retold what he had revealed at Klaus's insistence.

"Tell me about Tatia!"

He blinked. Tatia was his past, she was complicated and he had no idea how to put into words the girl that now brought out so much regret for so many different reasons. And she was still nothing compared to Elena, but how to say that without revealing his new love for the descendant of that same girl?

"What do you wish to know?"

She looked up at him, her eyes reddened and her face blotchy and tired. She was still a sight Gods would envy.

"What was she like? Did you love her? Did she love you? Did she love Klaus? Did she love her son? Tell me everything."

Everything. Everything was too much, everything was Elena, but he could paint her a neat enough picture of the Petrova that so very long ago was the start of it all.

"She was a good person, strong too… albeit broken. And she did care for me and Niklaus, but she didn't truly love either one of us it's why she could never choose between him and me, she missed her husband far too much."

"What happened to him?"

"He had died, drowned in the spring floods not long after their wedding. She was fifteen summers old at the time and carrying her child. Her son was the light of her hard life from the moment he took his first breath."

"And you were in love with her."

And for a moment he was brought back to that young man he had almost forgotten. So struck by her presence, certain and sure in everything else, but stuttering in front of Tatia. It was a long time ago, he had changed so much since then, but a part of him still understood that young man, perhaps better than he understood himself all those centuries ago.

"Yes… and no. I was enamored with her and I thought I would love her forever, but I didn't know what true love was at the time." He didn't say that he only found out recently. Didn't mention the fact it was her who opened his eyes to the exact meaning of that word. "She was the most beautiful girl in town and the saddest. She broke many hearts mine included, but she wasn't a cruel girl, there was a kindness in her and I think it was maybe not entirely right for the harsh lives we led in those times. It's certainly another reason although not the main one for why Esther chose her to be the sacrifice for her spell, - I believe she thought Tatia wouldn't have lasted much longer within the town of wolves either way."

"Am I like her?"

He looked past her. Elijah remembered her simmering courage when she threw vervain in his face, so defiant even afraid. He remembered her sharp gaze and too wise smile when they struck their very first deal. Remembered her as she fooled him and drove a dagger through his heart, she was the first human to ever have done so and there had been attempts before, vampire hunters that had failed more than once. Remembered her as those compassionate eyes connected with his and she asked if he had cared for Katerina, that quiet understanding that had almost stolen his breath. Finally he remembered the courage and the kindness, the sadness and the forgiveness, the fighting spirit and her all powerful love for her friends and family.

She was the best of what he wished he could achieve in himself and so much more of the things he had once regarded as disposable.

He didn't doubt his answer for even a moment, no other words he had ever spoken had been so true.

"No Elena, you are the most unique person I have ever met."

He didn't see her smile once she turned her head, her head resting against his chest. But he knew the smile was there, could feel her face pull into that infinitely precious expression of content.

* x *

_She wanted someone who could see past her face. To her, all of her, the broken parts of her as well as the good ones._

_And maybe she knew of someone who saw them, he had been faced with them for a while now._

_She didn't love him, but…_

* x *

Her footsteps beside him were almost silent. The material of her sky blue blouse was making the most insignificant whisper of a noise as it rubbed from her movement. The speed of her heart was slow but not entirely steady. There were three inches separating them and Elijah could feel each and every one of them.

It almost felt as if they had gone back in time to when they carefully danced around each other always a perfectly polite distance apart even as they somehow remained far too close.

The tension since the night a week ago hadn't waned. Actually - as he noticed her sharp breath when she needed to step closer to let past an approaching passerby, – it had only grown.

He hadn't forgotten anything from the moment he'd been woken by her. The feel of her body against his, the heat of her lips on his neck and every sensation and thought it inspired.

If he had thought that keeping away from Elena before was hard then the same task now was infinitely more torturous.

He was suddenly so aware of her mere presence, that he was certain if she traveled halfway across the world he would still know in which direction to turn his head and exactly by how many degrees to look directly towards her. If it were possible to have a compass within his heart Elena would be his magnetic south pole.

They were almost back to the house when he finally paid enough attention to the rest of the world to notice something he should have heard long before. There were two new heartbeats within the walls of his home.

His shoulders tensed and something in him clenched painfully. It wasn't Klaus and Rebekah, he had traveled with them for five hundred years and would recognize their particular signatures in seconds. He knew of only a few likely possibilities for the identities of two vampires who were bold and stupid enough to break into an Original's house. There was only one pair with the motivation to do so currently.

The motivation was walking oblivious beside him.

In less then a minute they would open the doors, enter the living room and be greeted by the most probably glaring faces of their unexpected guests. In less then a day he might have to put that magnet theory to the test.

Meanwhile he had choices. He could say he'd forgotten something and turn around to leave gaining some more time, but he didn't want to lie to her. He could enter with the speed of his thousand years of the curse Esther created and kill them before she had time to move, but that would shatter Elena's spirit and heart. He could lean in to kiss her, so he could always remember the feel of her lips against his, but that would be a stolen moment without any meaning. He could do nothing and let her be surprised.

But none of those options were honorable and after what he had done to her, she deserved for him to be the gentleman she seemed to view him as.

Elijah looked up. She was staring at him with a worried frown, obviously confused by his sudden change in posture.

"What's the matter?"

"We have guests. My guess would be the Salvatores."

Her eyes widened and her heart was suddenly thundering in her chest. Now she looked anxious and uncertain, like a young girl confronted with something she wasn't entirely ready for.

Elijah didn't gain any satisfaction from her reaction, it was exactly what he'd expected of Elena when with his vocal cords straining to sound normal he uttered the words he had dreaded for so long now. The nervous energy didn't mean she wouldn't fall back in their arms, it could just mean she didn't know how to go about it.

"Oh!"

He remained standing, his gaze looking past her fighting the urge to connect with hers. She had beautiful eyes, soft and expressive and chocolate brown. But this once he had no wish to look into them and see all the love they contained while clearly knowing he hadn't put it there, had absolutely no desire to once again be faced with her familiar indecision of truly knowing who her heart belonged to.

He swallowed back the stinging sensation and gestured towards the front door.

"Shall we?"

She breathed in, squared her shoulders and nodded. Elijah imprisoned the desperate possessive need so common in all supernatural creatures so that he wouldn't just grab her in his hands and run.

He entered a step behind her and when the two brothers - so like him and Klaus in their tragic fight for the same love - turned towards them with their grave slightly angry faces he was struck by how much this scene resembled the one where he had come for his well deserved apology. This time he wanted something much more valuable, but didn't even consider asking for it. Elena Gilbert wasn't an object, he had no right to her and sometimes he wondered if the Salvatores knew that neither did she belong to them. But their constant struggle for the right to finally claim her negated their seeming conviction that they could truly let her go if she ever did choose.

"Elena!"

The word came out of the eldest sibling like a prayer. He tried to keep his attention to just Damon and Stefan, but he felt as Elena trembled in front of him and could almost feel his face flinch. He needed room, specifically any other room.

"I will leave you to talk then. Elena, you know where to find me if I'm needed."

He was almost out of the room when Elena's voice stopped him.

"Thank you!"

His back was to her now, so he let his eyes close at the melancholy feeling and to ward off the enclosing walls. For a moment he stood as if struck, and then after inclining his head closed the door behind him, the doorknob bent in his palm.

He knew he should leave the house entirely, but a part of him needed to hear what was said and he wasn't completely at ease with leaving Elena alone with the man that had turned her or the one who looked to have done nothing to stop it anyway. He hadn't been in town to protect her when she needed it most, but he wouldn't leave her now - at least not until she asked him to.

"_What are you doing here Elena? I thought we wouldn't have to stop you from making mistakes with the Originals anymore. Elijah can't be trusted! Have you learned nothing?"_

"_Why **are** you here?"_

She was ignoring his question, moving straight to the point. He had to admire her refusal to be made to feel guilty.

"_What do you think? We're here to bring you home."_

He'd seen that coming. And yet he obviously hadn't prepared himself for it, because his legs gave out for the first time in a thousand years and he could do nothing but slump in his chair. She was leaving. The only physical proof he would now have left of Elena would be the dizzying scent that had ingrained itself in every crevice of his every room. And then one day that would fade as well.

"_No!"_

Elijah's brows furrowed. He couldn't possibly have heard that right. The almost growl from the living room said otherwise, it also made him straighten up ready to sprint back to them in case any direct threat of aggression was shown.

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Damon, calm down, anger won't help us now. Elena, we miss you, your friends miss you and Jeremy is worried sick about you."_

"_I'm fine. I left a note, you shouldn't have been searching."_

The scornful snort left no doubt in Elijah's mind as to its source.

"_Please. She's just still angry I had to turn her."_

"_Damon, stop helping!"_

"_Shut up Stefan! Elena you had you're fun, did your part in continuing the tradition of monthly bad decisions we all have going, but I think you know it's time to stop seething and deal with this problem. I'm sorry alright, I'm sorry Rebekah put you in danger to get back at Klaus, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the blood. I'm sorry you died. And no matter how much you hate me right now I'm not sorry you came back."_

"_You want me to forgive you again right?"_

There was a momentary silence in the other room, Elijah had no doubt that was some part of the impulsive man's ultimate goal. For that at least he couldn't blame Damon the least little bit, he had desired Elena's forgiveness more than once himself. He knew the absolving power the granting of it possessed.

"_I can't. At least not now."_

Silence again, more strained this time. He almost wished he could see through walls.

"_Elena? What's stopping you from coming back? Whatever it is you know we will help."_

"_Nothings stopping me, but I do need to tell you something I suppose. To both of you, actually. I loved you Stefan. I did and in a lot of ways I always will, but I'm not in love with you. That stopped on the day you were willing to drown me on Wickery Bridge… no stop I know you weren't ever going to. But what hurt wasn't that you threatened to kill me, it's that you did it **there.**"_

"_If you… if Damon makes you h…"_

"_Stop! This has nothing to do with Damon."_

"_Then why?"_

"_I… I admit that I fell for Damon, but… but even though it should mean everything it doesn't. I don't love h… I don't **love** you Damon. Not really, not the way you want me to at least, because I can't see myself staying with you forever. I could see a relationship that might last a month or a year, but eventually I'd leave. I'd regret allowing myself that year, I'd hurt you and even more importantly I'd hurt your bond with Stefan. He's your brother, you'd feel guilty, I'd feel guilty and even after we'd break up you would still have lost him. You made me have forever, but I can't see a forever with you. I never could, it's why I didn't want you to try so hard to win me."_

"_And what… you'll have it all with Elijah? The one who has betrayed us over and over? Really?"_

He stilled entirely. His entire focus shifting towards her, he could no longer hear either Salvatore. She was breathing, her lungs drawing in even amounts of oxygen, her heart only the least little bit too fast, showing the stress, but no readying of a lie. Whatever left Elena's lips now, would be the truth.

"_No!" _A hope he hadn't been aware of harboring shattered, much else there within him along with it. He really hadn't been ready for the meaning of this word after all. Nothing could have prepared him for what encompassed him now. He felt like a statue, he had cultivated that image since he killed his first man as a monster - and not as a fighter for survival - and yet only now could he really think of himself as if made of stone. A stone with hairline fractures stretching across the surface and into the very core. He could hardly hear at all, his hearing suddenly almost humanly weak. It almost made him miss her next words._ "But I will eventually."_

* x *

'_I don't love him, but I will.'_

* x *

As she entered the library half an hour later he looked up at her with an undisguised wonderment. He hadn't moved from the chair since the moment when within a matter of seconds his heart had been broken and then repaired.

The Salvatore's had gone rather reluctantly, but seemed to have been as struck as him after Elena's last words so were persuaded. He had no doubt they would return once they dealt with what they learned, reinforcements would be brought along no doubt. But this time it wouldn't matter, because if Elena decided to stay no one would be able to take her.

He had known her to be beautiful before, but somehow knowing his attachment to her wasn't entirely one sided was making all her previous entrances pale by comparison.

Her brown hair shined from the artificial lighting, her wide eyes danced with a flame he had been blind to before. Even her face suddenly transformed, Elijah hadn't thought of her as the Doppelganger in a long time, but currently he couldn't find the previous Petrova girls in even her features. If it was possible to fall in love with Elena Gilbert more deeply than he had been already then somehow she had managed to inspire him to do it with but one sentence.

He wouldn't be able to avert his gaze now even if he wanted to. Her words were still echoing across his mind.

"You were listening."

Her tone was serious, but there was light teasing hiding underneath the surface of that. Something had changed in Elena in the last hour, she had been relaxed before the brother's appearance already and yet now it seemed she only needed to imagine it and she would fly up into the sky with or without wings.

"Yes."

He didn't bother denying it, he had no doubt he couldn't have hidden this anyway. He was after all an Original and right then he was certain even someone who had never met him could read him without effort. And Elena had always known him a lot better than that.

"Good."

"Elena? I…"

"Wait. Let me talk first. When I came here I thought it was so that you would help me not to become the way Katherine and Klaus is and Stefan and Damon used to be. But you did far more than that, you healed me, you gave me a future that I had stopped believing since the moment my parents died. And it might not be the one I wanted, but it _will_ be a good one."

"I lo…"

He tried again, he didn't need to fear those words now, - they could no longer hurt Elena - but once more he was cut in mid sentence.

"Let me finish. I don't know what I feel for you yet, not completely. But being with you is… its home. I'm ready to go back to Mystic Falls, I miss my friends and my brother, but I need you to come with me. Please?"

"Can I talk now?"

He smirked at the bashful smile she sent him. And then her eyes narrowed before she quickly smacked his shoulder none too gently in admonishment. He responded by taking her lovely face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheekbones and as her eyes fluttered closed he didn't counter his impulse to lean forward and kiss her eyelids. They trembled under the feather light touch and she once more reminded him of a butterfly, its wings though couldn't possibly have tasted as sweet when touched.

"I love you Elena, I'll go anywhere you want to be. If it's Mystic Falls, then that's where we'll be headed as soon as you're ready to. Always and forever remember?"

And before she could respond he finally reached for the place he had dreamed of on countless nights, for the spot he hadn't had the opportunity to indulge in before now. His lips met hers in their first kiss, it wasn't painfully passionate or overly gentle, but it was a kiss he knew he would never forget, it confirmed his promise of eternity. Or for however long earth allowed him to live.

Her heart jumped and then skipped a beat. It had nothing to do with lies this time.

* The End *

A/N 2: So? Thoughts? Complaints? Compliments? I'll take them all.


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